About
bokk: to share
mbokk: the group of people with whom you share: family, neighbors, etc.
Living with the Diallo family for six months in Dakar, Senegal proved to me the value of the Wolof word mbokk. The strong interpersonal connections denoted by mbokk are not just a proverb; one’s mbokk literally shares everything and is deeply interdependent. The twelve member Diallo family openly welcomed me into their mbokk and truly made me a part of it. The most important aspect I keep with me from my time in Dakar is that people and strong releationships are what is important in life.
Mbokk exemplifies that perfectly.
This website, mbokk.blainedavis.com, now in its first stage of release, takes that concept to another level. Via the Web I share my first experience of living in Senegal so that others can see and get to know my mbokk in a small way, and also see the images of our daily life as a positive counterbalance to a great many images that depict only suffering in countries in Africa.
mbokk.blainedavis.com mirrors the interconnections of life by using the medium of the Internet to link each member of the family with a myriad of connections, within a web of possibly pathways; thus giving the viewer the power to choose a unique narrative within the bank of images.
h4. Blaine Davis